Mechanism for transporting loads



3 Sheets-Sheet 1 l. H. SMALL ET AL MECHANISM FOR TRANSPORTING LOADS Il IIII| |||1I Aug. 5, 1952 Filed sept. 25, 1947 Aug 5,: 1952 l. H. SMALL ET AL 2,605,912

MECHANISM FOR TRANsPoRTING LoAns..,

Filed sept. 25, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 y Allg- 5, 1952 l. H.Y SMALL TAL 2,605,912

MECHANISM FOR mmoRTING LoADs s sheets-sheet 5 Filed Sept. 25, 194? 'l0 l* o (L I I 132.?.9' /fa ff ff 14 WH`L"/ fmt Re) Patented ug. 5, 1952 UNITED stares Partnr Terrien PECHANISMFOR TRANSPORTNG L'OADS v `Ian H.- Sinallhand William lfv. Loman, Indian- Qapolis`,"lnd., assignors to Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, Ind., al corporation of Indiana I. .i Application September 25, 1947, Serial No. 776,002

' 'lC1aim.

This invention relatesy to Amechanism for handling and transporting loads comprising packages vand thelike, andrnore particularly to-loadhandling mechanism and load-carrying vehicles for use therewith. 1

An object of our inventionis to provide novel load-handlingY and ,load-carrier mechanism which vwill facilitate the transportation of loads comprising articles, such asv packages and the like, with a minimum. of vmanual labor, especially wherethe articles are of generally uniform size,

' and to provide .load-handlingmechanism and a load-carrying" vehicle which in `co-opeiation rtherewith vwill permit rapid, eiiicient and expeditious' delivery of articles, such as packages, from one station'to another. Another object of our invention is ltolprovide a-vehicle with load-carrier me hanism Whichlvvill facilitate the loadingand unloading vof'pa-ckages of ,generally uniform size, whicnmechanismwill impose a minimum of vrestriction o'rthe` general use of Athe vehicle for 'indiscriminate loads.v .Another objectY of our in- 'vention is to 'provide loadingv station .mechanism which will co-operatewith the carrier mechanism of the vehicle andwhich in `combination therewith will. permit the loading-and unloading of .packages directly from or to a conveyor line.

,'.n .accordance With-our invention,ga vehicle body, which may be of any stamiard construction, vis provided withV one or more tiers of a plurality. of special conveyor sections, `-and the several fconveyor flights. are mounted on horizontal pivotY axes adjacentA the side walls of the yvehicleand are' yn'1ovabl-e' between horizontal load-supporting .positions and vertical storage positions.;` -At one or more stations, j load handling mechanism is provided, including a power-operated conveyor movable intov alignment with the several: load ..car'riers of the vehicle. 1

rIn the illustrated'constructionrthe load; carriers-take the form ofsections ofvoonveyors arranged one above the other in tiers, alon'go-pposite vrsides of a vehicle body, in vari-"arrangement Which Aincludes means atA the .inner edges. of `said sections pivotally connected to and-interconnecting all of thesections'of veachtier, so that'the sections *of a whole tier may .be moved together to folded positionifor storage against'av side of i-,l'ieyehicle body, In a preferred construction, these conveyor sections comprise. elements which of the invention that the conveyor sections are pivotally interconnected by supporting members which move with the conveyors to a folded compact arrangement, the said interconnecting members being so arranged as to serve as supports for the conveyors when they are in load-carrying position..

Other features of the invention are the means for latching the conveyors in inoperative, folded position against the side Walls of the vehicle body, and for enabling a worker to release the latching means when it is desired to return the sections of conveyors to operative position, Y Y

In the .preferred construction, the load-carrying sections comprise side members which support', freely rotatable rollers in a'load-supporting arrangement, and which extend above the tops of the rollers to prevent lateral displacement of packages or Vother articles on the carrier.

. Other important features of the invention will appear from the following specification and claim.

` veyors atthe right in Fig. 1, Fig. 2 being a section taken alon'gtheline II--II of Fig. 3; l

- Fig. 3is a view-'taken along the line III-III .Fig. 4 is a view in side elevationof the conveyors along onesideof the truck shown in Fig. 1,

with theconveyors in` load-supporting position,

and showingrthe conveyors arranged in two'separately foldable sections.

. yFig.5 is an enlarged view of a stop or holding devicel inf place to hold packages against displacement, a similar'holding device being shown in 'connection .with the uppermost conveyor in Fig. 4; Y

Fig. 6 is a rear View of a holding device in place upon the lowermost conveyor;

Fig. 7 is an isometric View of a pivot-engaging 3 bracket on the side of a roller conveyor, and by which it is connected to a vertical supporting brace.

Fig. 8 is a view in side elevation, and partly in section, oi' a loading and unloading conveyor in relation to a truck body in loading position; and

Fig. 9 is a View similar to Fig. 8 but showing the truck in unloading position.

Fig. 1 shows truck body 8 having vertical side Walls l) provided with reinforcing braces I2 which serve as supporting members for a plurality of load carriers in the form of roller conveyors I4. As shown, the three conveyors I4 at the left in Fig. 1 are in open or load-carrying position, with cartons I6 indicated in dash lines shown in loaded position upon the upper two' roller conveyors. At the right in Fig. l, there is also shown a plurality of roller conveyors I4 in folded position adjacent to the upright side wall I of the truck, where they are held by releasable latches I8. The carriers on each side of the truck body desirably are in two or more tier secf Conveniently and as shown, the side bars 20, 2I v of each conveyor I4 extend substantially above the level of the upper surfaces of the rollers 22, thus providing means for preventing lateral displacement of the articles loaded on the conveyor. As shown most clearly in Figs. 1 and 2, each outer side bar 2l of the roller conveyors is itted intov and secured, as by welding, to bracket members 3'6, each of which has spaced projections 37 pivotally connected as by a bolt 38 to plates 40 securely riveted to the uprights I2 of the supporting structure,` the purpose of the pivotal connection being to permit folding of the conveyors I4 against the upright wall I0 of the truck body when they are not in use, for instance, when it is desired to transport in the truck packages larger than the conveyors are designed to receive.

As auxiliary means for supporting the roller conveyors I4 when they are in load-carryingr position, the inner side channels 20 of said conveyors have connected thereto supporting bars or posts 44, the said posts being pivotally connected'to the side bars 20 of the conveyors adjacent their lower y edges. Y v

As shown in Figs. l and 2,l the supporting members or posts 44 are connecteduto the roller conveyors I4 by pivotal connecting devices each comprising an ear (Fig. 2) riveted to said member 44 and receivable in a bracket 62 riveted to the lower side wall of the channel bar 20, the ear being secured within the bracket 62 by a .pivotA 4 pivot holes are positioned centrally of the proje; tions 31.

By reason of the pivotal connection between the vertical posts 44 and the several roller conveyors I4, the posts and the conveyor of each tier section will all move together to storage position into approximately parallel relation with respect to the sides of the truck, as shown at the right in Fig. l. The bars or posts 44 constitute interconnecting and supporting members for the inner free sides of the conveyors I4 and the lower end portion 44a of each bar 44 isin effect a post connected to the lowermost roller conveyor and adapted to rest upon the floor of the truck to support all of the conveyors in work-receiving position. The bars 44 which interconnect the side 'channels 2 0 of the roller conveyors I4 need not be integral with or even aligned with the posts 44a which are connected to the lowermost conveyor and which give support to the conveyors when in Work-supporting position.

At their front ends, i. e., at the front end of the truck 8, the roller conveyors I4 of the front tier section are all pivotally connected to a vertical bar 26 which serves both as an additional connection between the conveyors I4 and also as a stop against which the frontmost carton I6 is held when the conveyor is loaded. Conveniently, the bar 2B is pivoted to cross pieces 24a at the front ends of the conveyors I4.

When the conveyors are folded against a side I9 of the truck body, latch means I8 is utilized to hold them releasably in such position. For co-operation with the latch I8, there is provided a lip member 68 (Figs. 1, 2 and 3) in the form of an angle plate riveted to the lower side wall of the channel bar 20 of the uppermost roller conveyor. As illustrated, the latch I8 (Fig. 2) is yieldingly urged into co-operative relation with the lip member 68 by means of a spring 'I2 connected to a stud 'I4 rigid with a cross bar I6 extending between the upper ends of the braces I2, the other end ofthe spring I2 being engagedwith an arm 'I8 rigidly connected to the hub 'I9 of the latch member ;I8. A latch-releasing cable 82 passes over rollers 84 to a stirrup SII-conveniently positioned to be pulled down by an operator. To facilitate release of the latch, theY roller conveyors I4 may be moved to somer extent toward the wall I0 as the latch release stirrup'is pulled. When the conveyors I4 are moved to closed position, the latch is lifted by the lip member-68 and is moved to latching position by the spring 'I2 as the lip member 68 passes it.

In order thatone worker easily'mayshift the conveyors into operative positionr and inoperative or folded position, the conveyors may be constructed in short sections as shown in Fig. 4, the sections being-arranged in end-to-end relationship and functioning as one conveyor at each level. 'Y

When a conveyor is loaded andthe rearmost carton is in position, a stop device 30 is dropped upon the next adjacent rollers and firmly Vv'holds the line of packages against displacement ordischarge in an endwise direction during operation of the truck. v f- Thestop device or holding member 30, shown in operative position in Figs. 4, 5 and 6,l comprisesabase plate (Fig. 5) having a curved hookn 92 for engagement selectively withV one of the .rollersl 22, the said .base member 90 having pivoted-thereto a package-engaging member 94 arranged to be held in its operative position Lby a latch 98 pivoted to said member 94 and having genetic slot ,IMfor slidably engaging a bolt |06 which is constrained to move along` aligned slots |03v in spaced guide members I Hl riveted to and extending upwardly from base member 9U. Preferably the latchlghasv attached thereto a handle ||2 byl which the pawllend of thelatch `Sliimayjbel lretracted from its engagement with the rack |02 to'release the lwork-engaging ,memberl 9d and to lift the Whole stop member `:Ell-from itsposition "to the roller conveyor. The stop device or holding member Sil is used to hold the cartons or packages I6 against displacement after they have been assembled on a givenroller conveyor, and said stop or holding device may be readily ap plied in its holding position, or removed therefrom when it is desired to unload the given conveyor. This stop or holding device is the invention of one of us, Ian H. Small, and forms the subject matter of copending application Serial No. 776,001, filed September 25, 1947.

The loading and unloading of a truck body provided with a conveyor arrangement in accordance with our invention may be greatly expedited by employing the load handling mechanism I I8 shown in Figs. 8 and 9. This comprises a powerdriven belt |26, passing over pulleys in a suitable frame, with its upper run supported by a smooth surfaced plate |22, and driven through one of the pulleys by a motor |2ii. Inr order that the belt conveyor H8 may be selectively positioned with respect to the conveyors I4 at different levels in the truck body, the belt conveyor is pivotally mounted at its rear end and means is provided for lifting and lowering said conveyor, the said means comprising a hoist (not shown) connected to the conveyor |I8 by a yoke |30 embracing and pivotally connected to said conveyor.

At its forward end, said load-handling conveyor I I8 has pivotally connected thereto a flexible extension, such as a roller section |32 which may be readily turned backwardly into inoperative position as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 8. When in operative position, the roller section |32 provides a bridge which engages and rests upon any one of the shelves fastened to the rear ends of the conveyors |13 of the truck body. Movement of the bridge |32 'to or toward its inoperative position permits the conveyor |I8 to pass from one shelf 25 to another as it is aligned selectively with the conveyors I4 in the truck.

As indicated in Fig. 8, the ramp at the loading station is desirably so constructed that a truck in loading position has its rear end elevated with respect to the front end thereof so that the packages or the like may move by gravity along each conveyor I4 toward the front end of said truck, thus facilitating loading of the conveyors I4. Likewise, an unloading station designed to 1 utilize to the full the advantages of our invention may be provided with a ramp to incline the truck rearwardly, as indicated in Fig. 9, so that gravity assists in the unloading operation by causing rearward movement of the packages on each conveyor, as soon as the operator releases them by removal of the stop devices 30. With our invention, a truck provided with the load-carrying conveyor sections may be loaded in a very little time and with very little effort as compared with conditions commonly met with which necessitate much time-consuming and tedious labor on the part of the truck driver and others. With equal `savings, fa truck may be unloadedv quickly and with a'iminimum` ofeifort. l f The 'load-handling andV carrying -mechanism of -ourfinventionis of special applicability in a situation-where many packages produced or utilized, as in -a Aproduction line,must be transported from one area-toanother, for example from one portion of a conveyor line tov another or to a .storageor shipping point. -In such a situation,

one 'or more trucksmay be used, and each may be loaded quickly and easily vby a- Vsingle-workman at the loading station, and the loading may be directfromaconveyor system. To this end, the truck is simply backed toV loading position. the load-handlingpower conveyor is aligned successivelywitli the several load-carrying conveyor sections and operated to discharge the package on to such sections. The packages will move from the handling conveyor directly to proper positions for a full load on the truck. The operator is free to move in the aisle between the two tiers of conveyors on the truck to straighten any package which may become misaligned, and to insert the stops 30 on the respective sections as they become lled. The whole loading operation takes but a few minutes, so that the truck may be used a maximum time and will be tied up with loading a minimum time, and so that the conveyor system from which the packages are delivered may operate at a usual rate and without congestion of packages at its delivery end.

To the same end, and to maintain a steady supply at the delivery point, the trucks may be unloaded in an equally short time at the delivery station by like operations performed in a reverse order.

Moreover, the trucks are always available for use in other situations or for general hauling'. ln such case, if the load is suitable, it may be loaded from the rear of the truck directly from a supply point and the load units placed on the rear end of the sections and pushed to fullload position. For unloading, the operator may mov-e in the aisle between the tiers of sections to move the load easily along the conveyors to the rear for unloading. If the load is unsuitable to be carried on the tiers of sections, they may be moved, in whole or in part, to their folded storage positions, to make substantially the whole truck body available for general hauling, and the change may be made easily and quickly as occasion demands.

We claim:

In combination, a truck having a floor and side walls, the latter each being provided with a rigid supporting structure; oppositely disposed, vertically spaced tiers of roller conveyors extending longitudinally of said truck with the rollers of said conveyor extending transversely thereof, each of said conveyors along one edge thereof being hingedly affixed to said side walls and, at spaced intervals along the opposite edge thereof, being pivotally interconnected by unitary, spaced, upright members whereby each of said tiers of conveyors can, as a unit, be raised to an ineffective or nonload-carrying position, substantially flat against said side walls of said truck or lowered, as a unit, into an effective,I

horizontal, load-carrying position wherein said upright members Vrest upon said truck floor and serve as means for supporting said conveyors in load-carrying positions; releasable, spring-actuated latch means mounted on each of said side walls and operable to engage and retain its corresponding tiers of roller conveyors in nonload-carrying position upon the lattery being moved thereinto, a load-handling station including a conveyor and Aelevating mechanism to alignv a free end of said conveyor into tandem relation with the outer end of a selected onevof said tiers of roller conveyors; and shelf members projecting from the outer end of each roller conveyor of each tier serving as an aligning means and rest for said free end of said load-handling station conveyor. V z

-., v n IANH.SMALL.

W1LLIAM W.'LOMAN.

file .of this patent:

Number 8 UNITED STATES A'.PA'IIEINTS Name Date Plant Jan. 1, 1895 Wake wMay 23, 1916 Talbot Nov. 28, 1916 Mentzer et al. Aug. 20,1918 Dyer- Aug. 2, 1921 Greene Nov. 13, 1923 Cody Sept. 3, 1929 Shirreff Oct. 8, 1929 Hart May 21, 1935 Clerc Oct. 26,-1937 ScottV Aug. 27, 1940 

